RECOGNITION by Ken Weitzman

NHP alum Ken Weitzman’s play RECOGNITION was developed at Theatre Lab in 2025, and receives its world premiere there in 2027. Recognition is the true story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman whose study of Shakespeare and work on the Baconian theory uncannily led to her becoming one of this country’s first codebreakers, influencing the outcome of two world wars, and laying the foundation for the science of cryptology. Her work, along with her husband’s, formed the basis of this country’s modern intelligence community, from the NSA, to CIA, to FBI. Smith Friedman’s story was hidden until recently because J. Edgar Hoover buried her contributions to steal credit for himself. The play engages with issues related to information, how it’s wielded and controlled. It looks at when secrecy might be necessary, and at the personal, political, and societal cost of that secrecy. It explores the conflict between rigorous scientific method and evidence (truth, in other words) and that which mere marketing or, worse, intentional misinformation. This is to say that the play looks are urgent matters for our democracy through a historical lens, and by uncovering an egregious example of historical exclusion.